The first 10 days of 2024 saw the attention of sumo fans drawn to events taking place at both the highest and lowest levels of Japan’s national sport.

First up were various joint training sessions involving stables in the same ichimon (clan), which pitted top stars such as Kirishima, Daieisho and Kotonowaka against each other.

Those practices were followed by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council’s sōken (open training session) on Tuesday at Kokugikan in Tokyo, where yokozuna Terunofuji hogged the headlines.

As expected, the council’s practice session was a mixed bag for a man who has made it to the final day of a tournament just once in the past eight meets.

Terunofuji, who hasn’t competed since July, had some bright moments at the sōken when going against ozeki pair Takakeisho and Kirishima, but plenty of ring rust was on display as well, and his participation in the upcoming January meet remains in doubt.

Meanwhile, at the very lowest rung of the sumo ladder, 11 young hopefuls participated in the Japan Sumo Association’s entrance tests for new recruits, which also took place Tuesday.

Nine of the 11 will be 18 years old by the time the January meet comes to a close, while the remaining aspirants are a pair of 23-year-olds from sumo strongholds Mongolia and Nihon University.

Collegian Koki Inami joins Onoe beya — a stable where, to date, four of its five wrestlers to make it into the top two divisions, as well as the stablemaster, also graduated from Nichidai.

Aforementioned Mongolian hopeful Demidjamts Usukhbayar finally makes his professional debut after training and preparing in former yokozuna Hakuho’s Miyagino stable for the past several months.

Fans in the Kokugikan on certain days of the January meet may be able to see some of those hopefuls in action, or perhaps witness their official presentation ceremony.

That’s thanks to a system which sets sumo apart from almost all other professional sports.

Buy a ticket for an NFL game or a Premier League match and of course you’ll get to see the top athletes in action. The same goes for individual competitions, such as tennis or golf, where major tournaments contain the best talent those sports have to offer.

However, whether it’s a team or individual sport, also getting to observe lower-tier teams or players as part of the entrance price is never part of the equation.

In fact, watching athletes in other divisions, or on different teams, normally involves traveling to separate arenas and cities.

Not so in sumo.

A ticket for any one of the 90 days of professional sumo each year allows you to watch a wide range of bouts at all levels. Everything from teenage newcomers that aren’t sure how to step up into the ring, to legends of the sports that are among the most successful athletes on the planet.

Imagine purchasing a ticket to see Real Madrid play a late evening game, but also being allowed to enter the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium 11 hours before kickoff to watch a succession of lower-tier teams in action before the main event. That’s how sumo works.

It’s a system that gives fans an opportunity to experience what can feel like two completely different events in the same day — without having to leave their seats.

Enter a sumo stadium soon after the gates open and you’ll find a church-like silence punctuated by calls of encouragement from the family and friends of lower-tier wrestlers.

Later that day the same arena will be packed with a raucous crowd roaring on their heroes — an electric atmosphere that should be on the bucket list of every sports fan.

For the New Year’s Grand Sumo Tournament, which gets underway on Sunday, there are all manner of interesting storylines to be found before many fans even enter the stadium.

Just outside the salaried ranks in the third-tier makushita division, former Emperor’s Cup winner Wakatakakage continues his climb back to sumo’s upper levels after injury-enforced absences dropped him down the rankings.

After five years in that same tier, Wakatakakage's older brother Wakatakamoto falls to the fourth division, and at age 32 is running out of time to put himself in position for another crack at making the top two divisions.

Suyama, a University of Tokyo graduate, continuous to toil away in the sandanme division on a path taken by no other alum from his prestigious alma mater.

Aonishiki, meanwhile, has yet to taste defeat in 10 professional sumo matchups.

The 19-year-old from Ukraine will be hoping to continue his fast start, claim a second-successive lower division championship and make it to tier four by March.

Makushita and sandanme are also home to the brothers of top-division wrestler Oho. The three siblings are grandchildren of all-time great yokozuna Taiho, and sons of Takatoriki —another former Emperor’s Cup winner.

Whether it’s foreign hopefuls bidding to make a life for themselves in a sport and culture that can feel unfathomable, to the children and grandchildren of sumo royalty attempting to live up to their famous progenitors, the lower divisions offer myriad fascinating stories for anyone willing to spend a full day in the arena.

In most sports, fans only get to see one part of the story at a time. Either the local heroes starting out on what they hope will be the road to success; established superstars reaping the rewards of fame, or former greats trying to recapture past glories.

Each day of a sumo tournament, meanwhile, contains all three acts of that play laid out before you. It’s unique in the world of sport and well worth your time.